Treatment of Lymphopenic Hypogammaglobulinemia and Bone-Marrow Aplasia by Transplantation of Allogeneic Marrow

Abstract

A patient with lymphopenic hypogammaglobulinemia was treated with two bone-marrow transplantations, with establishment of immunologic competence after the first transplant. After this transplant, an immunologically induced pancytopenia occurred, attributed to a reaction of the grafted lymphoid cells against host constituents. The patient's bone marrow was then repopulated with a second marrow graft from the same donor. No further evidence of graft-versus-host disease was observed, and the recipient now possesses red blood cells and lymphocytes of donor type. The successful outcome of these transplantations depends to a large extent on the existence of histocompatibility between donor and host.